MTFCA Forum

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Another of my brainfarts. I have built a valve in my mind a hundred times that would use manifold vacuum to open and when the manifold vacuum dropped to near zero would fall closed automatically. As long as gasoline remained in the carb bowl to start, the valve would require no attention at all. Whe...

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Interested in the package. How do you want paid?
Dave Kahle

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I have had good success with drying the spokes in an oven to near zero moisture content before assembly. They can then be assembled by hand with very little pressure applied. After assembly I remoisturize them to swell them to a tight fit. Sounds crazy but works quite well. Not for the faint of hear...

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I agree that Model T engines do not need ZDDP. I don't need to brush my teeth either, but I do to make them last longer than they would otherwise. It could be argued that even high pressure flat tappet engines do not need ZDDP either, but they wouldn't last too long without it. It seems to me that a...

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I think the whole thing must have been a setup………..I don’t see blood on anything, no dropped wrenches littering the landscape and not nearly enough oil on the floor!

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I am somewhat reluctant to respond to this thread since it has been explained to me several times in the past that I am not seeing what I think I am on other subjects. But I can't resist, so here goes. I have been rebuilding coils for about ten years for my own consumption and have now done somewher...

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My father was a truck driver as I was growing up, not the over the road kind, but one who hauled coal from the open pit mines to the tipple to be processed. Back then it was possible to ride along with him and I did as often as I was allowed. I remember being absolutely fascinated by all of the mini...

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I have fixed worn shafts in everything from the crankshaft in a Fordson tractor to a 2" diameter planer shaft to carburetor shafts by wrapping the appropriate wire into a pocket turned at the point of wear on the shaft and soft soldering, silver soldering or J.B. welding the wire in place and turnin...

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I purchased a pile of T parts just for the heck of it, sort of a grab bag thing and my grandson picked them up and delivered them to me yesterday. There was a quite an assortment of pretty good stuff including a late (26-27) flywheel with a complete transmission. I think it must be the dirtiest tran...

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I have been blessed with a number of Model T's and two Model A's and enjoy them all in one way or another. I also live very near Cook Forest State Park and can access it without ever traveling on anything but gravel and narrow paved country roads. In that rural environment I much prefer the T's wher...

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How much difference is there between the steering columns from 1919 to 1924? Will they interchange?

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Would the installation of high compression pistons or head increase or decrease the possibility of carb icing in your opinion?

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Was this published by "Marvel" comics?

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When I made the first one of these I went to "Horror Freight" and bought the three universal set (1/4, 3/8, 1/2) for ten dollars but I wanted to make a number of them and had no idea what I would do with all of the left overs so I found a place in California where I could buy just the 1/4" ones for ...

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I have made a few different types of shutoff handles for my gas tank and this weekend and settled on the ones using a 1/4" drive universal joint as a beginning point. They work well and don't cost much and are easy to fabricate. It looks like they will work well within 30 degrees of straight on. I m...

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One must take into consideration the rate at which Model T’s breed. I started with one about thirty years ago and now count six. Not rabbit breeding efficiency but respectable none the less!

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I wonder how fast a thirty cylinder Model T would go?

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I have them in two model A and two model T cars as well as the steer tires on my motor home. I notice the biggest difference on the model a's for some reason. I can drive them at 60 miles an hour with one finger on the wheel until I come to a stop and then the car gallops for a few hundred feet unti...

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That is the setup I made to test the rare earth magnet flywheel vs. the stock setup. The benefits are that I can test at various fixed rpm and easily change air gap as well as switch back and forth with different flywheel/magnet configurations. The battery is there because we have been fooling with ...

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Here is the worlds heaviest and least practical HCCT (not really hand cranked). All I need is the spark ring.

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One I have experienced at car shows is "the danged fool got the steering wheel on upside down".

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Any chance of a tight valve guide in cyl one and two. Good time for a compression test.

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I have had the pleasure of restoring a number of Fordson model F tractors which used a clutch that was similar to the Model T setup and shared the same problems. When the clutch plates wear against each other for a long time they actually mate to a near perfect fit which when glued together by cold ...

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Jerry, If I had it to do over again I would make my kids each take a teaspoon of MMO every morning just to be safe!

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Beautiful ride up the Clarion River from Cooksburg, Pa to Ridgway Pa. through Cook Forest State Park. The road is pretty level but rather narrow and the speed limit it 25 -35 mph, much of it newly paved. Access to Cook Forest is 30 minutes north of I-80 from Clarion exit. Ice cream available at the ...

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I am one of those nuts that relies pretty heavily on MMO and JB Weld for simple repairs so you may want to dismiss much of my advice. To make a repair to the outside of that piece I would radically wire brush or use electrolysis to remove every bit of rust from the area and the cover the damaged are...

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My cars are “fair weather” creatures and are never in an unseated space and never driven in the cold. I maintain the antifreeze levels only to prevent corrosion. I wonder what concentration of antifreeze would provide maximum cooling and provide the necessary rust protection.

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As an option: I posted a while back about wheels I did for my '19 roadster where I oven dried the spokes to shrink them before assembly and then re-humidified them afterward. The wheels run more true than any other that I have done and went together without all the fuss. The process didn't receive m...

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I think they break because the stick. Has anyone experimented with applying a babbit or Teflon sleeve over the original valve to reduce the required torque and subsequent leaking?

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Scott, You don’t have to try to be condescending, it’s a gift. I know exactly what you are saying. By the way, I have twenty or thirty Fordson model F tractors and they time the same way.

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It occurs to me that 15 degrees after TDC can’t be ascertained unless TDC can be confirmed. I’m just not as handy as you are so I need to provide myself with a helper. I guess I’m still a novice having only seven Model T’s for about thirty years, but I’m willing to learn.

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Mark, I’m. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer and my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be so I find “horizontal” sort of an arbitrary value to time an engine by. I built this contraption in an hour or so and the cost was about ten bucks for material. It doesn’t show me approximately where TDC is...

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I didn’t know Rube (my hero) was an aircraft mechanic.

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How about keeping transmission band litter out of the oil tube?

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How much do you think a reliable oil filter would extend the life of the engine, oil changes at the same interval?

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I’m thinking rev2 should have a whistle in the indicator shaft to announce compression!

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Timing device

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The material you see on the spokes is “Nelsonite” which is a dimension stabilizer. It soaks primarily into the end grain to prevent end splitting and retard the movement of moisture into and out of the wood. It will have no effect on the finish, whether paint, stain, or varnish.

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Max, The rare earth magnets did outperform the stock ones exponentially. The air gap could be increased to over 1/2" and still perform well. The problem would undoubtedly be how to detune the rare earth flywheel to where it was hotter than stock but not overwhelm the ignition coils. I'm still workin...

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For what its worth, I have been experimenting with rare earth magnet replacements for the Model T flywheel just for the fun of it and in order to test the output of the experiment I mounted a "T" flywheel to the chuck of one of my engine lathes and mounted a newly rewound magneto to the carriage so ...

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this is where I am currently[attachment=0]shutoff.jpg

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I have read a number of solutions to the problem of extending the fuel shutoff handle from under the car to the outside. For sure the passing of time makes the trip to the ground and to the center of the car further with each birthday and I now find it a quite a chore to make the journey. As a resul...

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I had a chance to play some more today and found some more interesting things. I speculated that the aluminum "magnets" would lighten the flywheel by about 8 1/2 pounds and someone said that might accommodate for the added weight of a Scat crank. I had one in the shop and weighed it and a stock T cr...

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I think my meter is the problem. I just hooked up a coil to the new flywheel and had consistent spark at 112 rpm and intermittent spark at 84. I didn't get to try the stock flywheel because I tried the setup at 1550 rpm and had fire flying everywhere for about 15 seconds until everything went dead. ...

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I had these spaced really well on the post but when I submitted them the page realigned and screwed up the works. Sorry about that

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It seems the more I look the less I understand. At the request of a previous post I disassembled the stock flywheel and recharged the magnets since I too was surprised at the low voltage the first test produced. In addition to that I replaced the magneto coil with one that I picked up from Kevin Pru...

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It looks like these magnets will reduce the weight of the flywheel by about 8 1/2 pounds. Do you guys think that would make a noticeable difference in performance, all else being equal?

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My most original steering wheel was on a Fordson tractor I purchased years ago in California. The story that came with the tractor was that it was one of Henry's "gift" tractors in 1918 which was given to a farmer by the name of McCracken in Santa Rosa. I have no way of substantiating that story but...

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Some interesting and surprising data. I completed the lathe setup with the flywheel and mag and was able to make some voltage tests this afternoon at various speeds. The voltages with the stock magnets, recently recharged, yielded the following at .020 air gap: 364 rpm 1.0 volts 492 rpm 3.0 volts 64...

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The flywheel is mounted in the lathe and the mag mounting is being discussed. Maximum speed of the lathe I have is 1550 rpm but that should make an interesting test. I will be able to change speeds easily and am anxious to see if the voltage increases in a linear fashion. Same with varying air gaps....

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330 million people in the country and most don’t need a stent. The ones who do are glad that someone looked into them.

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One of the guys who works for me has one - he won’t sell her though!

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Scott, there has been anxiety recently about the loss of Fun Projects voltage regulators and just a few posts ago information on how to rewire a starter for 12 volts. Apparently there is some interest in this type of thing. It may well be that a good stock mag might work with the solid state regulat...

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So here is plan B for the improved mag project. If it won't work you might tell me so before I spend any more time or money on this cranial flatulence. We recently had to replace the magneto coil and voltage regulator on one of our commercial front cut mowers with a 27 hp Kohler engine and when we t...

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My fascination with the magneto is based primarily on the "why not" factor. I find some sense of joy from doing things that are outside the box. The benefit of the rare earth project would be, in my mind, that the samarium magnets are almost bulletproof with respect to heat and the air gap in the ma...

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I recharged both of the original flywheel magnets a while ago so I can’t verify the weight they would hold but I have a very heavy industrial magnetizer and always give the magnets all they will take. Neither flywheel has been installed in an engine so I am confident that they represent any fresh or...

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I have been playing with flywheels and magnets the last few days. The previous thread was getting lengthy so I decided to post some results separately. I had two flywheels with freshly recharged original magnets and another on which I installed both neodynium and samarium cobalt rare earth magnets. ...

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Made a change in the magnets tonight and the voltage increased to about 7 volts at 190 rpm. Ordered 100 samarium magnets today which should make about a 40 percent improvement.

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Apologies, the tip speed of the magnet poles at 1500 rpm works out to 64 miles per hour, I only missed it by a factor of four. Amazing what a nights sleep will do for your math skills.

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Samarium cobalt magnets provide approximately 85 percent of the field strength of neodymium (cheaper and much more common) but have a maximum operating temperature of 500 to 700 degrees F. where ordinary neodymium start to fail at 200-250 degrees F., which might still work but are on the border of c...

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Here's another thing to sleep on. If my math is correct (and it may not be) the tips of the magnets on a stock flywheel travel at 250 miles per hour at 1500 rpm. Multiply that by the 32 poles rotating through air and oil and consider that the ends are as square as they were sheared at the factory. T...

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I run a number of itimers on my cars and am not as concerned with the coils as I am with those timers. The magnets I have made replace the unbalanced steel ones with machined aluminum ones which would significantly reduce the weight of the assembled flywheel, improve balance, maintain the original a...

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I’m not smart enough to understand the physics involved with a choke or how to size one for the application. I’ll modify the setup to maximize the output and report back for further instructions. This thing really fascinates me!

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Thinking of replacing the motor on the hcct with a vfd controlled one. What would be your best guess of an rpm that would best simulate an average quarter turn hand crank?

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Correction - I borrowed the mag gauge from my speedster this morning and found the ac voltage to be around 5 volts at just under 200 rpm. The hcct showed 16 strong consistent sparks at that speed. I used rather small magnets and could easily replace them with stronger ones. In your opinion, should I...

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My hcct runs at about 190 rpm. How much voltage do you think would be too high at that speed. I need an analog meter to be sure what I have but my digital meter is bouncing around at twenty volts or so.

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Jerry, I won't be adjusting the coils on the hcct but will use it for a test stand for the newer magnets on a flywheel. Because it is motor driven it will make comparison testing more accurate than in a car and the flywheels can be exchanged or re-shimmed in just a few minutes. I would like to then ...

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I am seriously considering making up a flywheel with the aluminum "magnets" and operating it on my motor driven HCCT just to see how it might perform. Do any of you metallurgists have any recommendations on whether to attempt to bend the bars or weld them at the junction of the poles and do you have...

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Just a wild thought. How would it work to shape aluminum bar stock into the size and shape of conventional "T" magnets, bore a blind hole in the face of each end and epoxy a 3/8" rare earth magnet (correctly orienting polarity) such that the binding plate would cover the magnet. Appearance would be ...

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I am fortunate to own two reconditioned Wilson HCCT's, one hand cranked and one with a motor, and a Strobospark. I took delivery of an ECCT just last Friday and have become a believer in just two days. I am proud to own a piece of history with the Wilsons, but am very impressed with the new tester. ...

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We have made many thousands of spokes, always hickory. Due to its density it shrinks two to three times more with changes in moisture content than other species, with exceptions. There are actually two rates of shrinkage across the grain. Radial shrinkage of hickory is slightly less than two percent...

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George, Referring to me as a wheelwright would be like calling Jack Benny a concert violinist. I do these things for my own amazement and its always gratifying when they work out. I just don't want to pass on without sharing what I've been fortunate enough to find along the way.

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We buy our hickory from the yards at 7 to 8 percent moisture content which is the correct EMC (equilibrium moisture content) for our eastern inland area. Since the wheels will be subject to atmospheric humidity, being outside, the spokes would naturally expand during the summer months from the point...

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This is sure to invoke the wrath of the orthodox but that's what I do. I decided to respoke the wheels on my '19 Roadster and built a super duty spoke press and proceeded with the back wheels in the conventional manner. They came out pretty true with considerable effort but I couldn't resist the tem...

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All good advice and well received. I have a garage full of good running ModelT's and Fordson tractors that I have rebuilt the coils in over the decades and they all start and run well. Many have remarked about how easily they start so the question isn't one of desperation but of detail. I agree that...

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So, I have had a Strobospark tester for years and always considered it to be something on the order of a gold standard. Recently I rebuilt two Wilson HCCT's and had the meters rebuilt. At about the same time I was able to purchase a Weston bench meter and so now I have four meters to adjust coils wi...

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Ii have bought about a dozen of them this past year and had amazing success. I put used antifreeze in them and about a quarter inch of motor oil to prevent evaporation in outbuildings etc. They work as advertised and require little attention except for removal of dead critters from time to time.

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In our cabinetmaking business we have used a product called “Nelsonite” to stabilize our door panels and minimize end splitting for over forty years. We dip each end of the panels in the product prior to final machining. The Nelsonite is very low viscosity and wicks rapidly into the end grain. It do...

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Ironically I had the hcct book at my recliner when I read your post. I have just restored two KRW testers and got the book for reference. It is extremely well written and has many good quality color pictures of many brands and types of the equipment including a lengthy chapter on the Allen units. Ea...

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Some days this forum reminds me of a holiness church I attended for many years. You were ok as long as your righteousness was the same as theirs plus or minus two percent. Anything over you were a fanatic and anything under you were a heathen. The church has since closed and the building is for sale...

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Wood finishes by their nature are all high gloss. Paint manufacturers add a “flatting agent” to the finish when it is made to refract light and dull the sheen. If you apply high gloss and wait until it hardens you can achieve the same effect by polishing with very fine steel wool and brown wax (comm...

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I have finished a number of wheels and usually finish the spokes “naturally”, not because it is correct but, being a woodworker by trade, I find them appealing. I have access to a bead blast cabinet and have found that to be the best way to strip the old finish. It is aggressive enough to remove pai...

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While he is not in Eastern Pa., Kevin Prus in Columbiana, Ohio has a pan jig and has straightened a number of pans for me. He re-brazes the leak points as well. Good folks to deal with.

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Here is my latest acquisition, compliments of Bob Giles, neat little car.

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Art, I have had a strobospark for quite a few years. I started out thirty years age with a battery charger and an ammeter. I adjusted my coils to 1.3 amps and when they threw a good hot 1/4” spark I thought I had them near perfect. Problem was that I didn’t know how much I didn’t know, ignorance bei...

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I have been trading emails with Mike K. trying to order an ECCT. He is having supply chain issues and it appears that it will be some months until he can ship one to me. I am looking forward to its arrival so I can check the performance of my cars with coils tuned with it. Bob Cascisa just rebuilt t...

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I hesitate to suggest this but have had nothing but success with it over the years. I have restored a number of Fordson tractors and Model T autos and was stuck in the same situation with the brass being tight in the castings one time. I just happened to be talking on the phone with Duane Helman fro...

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Scott, That all begins to make sense except for the fact that the spark happens consistently at alternating positions depending on direction of rotation. I know it’s a “drive on a parkway - park on a driveway” issue that only matters intellectually but my HCD (hyper curiosity disorder) requires an a...

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Bob, Just tried six coils and got the same result. I would guess it happens at about 50 rpm. Speeding up just a bit they fire on all sixteen marks. I get your meters on tomorrow I’ll report on current.

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I don’t know how to explain what I saw. If I numbered the index marks 1 thru 16 and “slowly” cranked the tester clockwise the sparks occurred on the even numbers but when the rotation was reversed they occurred on the odd numbers. Speeding up the rotation caused sparks at each mark. Doesn’t really m...

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What puzzles me is the “predictable” nature of this odd behavior,

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Here’s another curiosity. When I crank slowly,clockwise, just fast enough to get a known good coil to fire it will cause a spark only on every other index mark. Rotating the direction of rotation causes the sparks to occur on the marks in between. Speeding up the rpm’s causes 16 sparks in either dir...

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Thanks Bob, now to find one.

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Steve, Thanks for the reply. I was pleasantly surprised that the pic you posted was painted red. Both of mine appeared to be red originally so that is what I repainted them even though some forum posts suggested otherwise. I need to get Bob’s book, what a gentleman to work with!

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I was able to buy two Wilson hand cranked coil testers a few months ago and have them just about restored. Bob Cascisa has rebuilt and recalibrated the Jewell meters and I am anxious to receive them - promised delivery Monday by USPS. One is now complete but the other has a broken crank handle which...

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Is it is or is it aint, I have a '26 and a '27 coupe in very good condition but am concerned about the window glass. I would like to sell one and drive the other but need to know about the safety of the glass in both. I have read all I can find to determine whether either car has tempered or laminat...

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Bob, You are welcome. I have had a great time with the car in just the few days I’ve had it - both polishing and giving rides. It was great to get to know you and your wife. A great experience from beginning to end. My thanks, as well, to the forum for allowing us to make the connection. A lot of go...

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I have a mountain of Dewalt battery chargers for my power tools which have the capacity to charge 9.6, 12, or 18 volt batteries which I also have a good supply of. I separated the case of one of the chargers and soldered in a pair of wires which I routed through the case when I glued it back on. The...

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There is a repair that I have done to various shafts including brass throttle and choke shafts, heavy machinery shafts, and one Fordson tractor crankshaft, that seem to work for me. It involves turning away the damaged section on a lathe and wrapping a wire, suitable to the application, in a "spring...

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I have a '30 Model A that used to vibrate noticeably when decelerating in high gear against the engine compression. I installed a high compression head on the car and the vibration stopped. I remember seeing a post on the Model A forum about the reason years ago but can't remember what it was.

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